Leaky Sunroof?

[imthanick_a]

That would be much appreciated! I'm just in the early stages of diagnosing mine. I went out and opened the sunroof to view the seal. So what you're saying is that instead of water coming in between the seal and the roof/glass, it's coming in under the seal itself? The only reason I even noticed the leak is because 1 single drop of water landed on my hand while I was driving to work this morning.


Edit:
I was able to go out and locate the drains. My commute consists of extremely steep hills. I'm wondering if that causes the water to pool away from the drains. My gut is telling me that mine only leaks while I'm driving. It's been raining non-stop and I park outside. If it were a constant leak, I think my interior would have been soaked this morning.

Mine is the opposite, it leaks when parked in the rain. Not a problem when I'm home in the garage, but at work I'll get a puddle on my seat.

You are correct, it's the inner seal, not the one that seals around the edge of the glass. You can actually pull the inner seal out of the groove that it is supposed to seat in and see how loose it is. I watched water pour underneath and out of a few slots that are in the plastic with ease.

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[imthanick_a]

Update: I think my initial diagnosis was incorrect. In the first pic you can see where water overflowed during my tests, then the arrow points to where it got through to. In the second pic you can see where I think the real issue is. The huge gap right in the spot where water settles during rain... I think I can still fix this myself and will try another day.

If enough water gets past the primary seal around the top and into the reservoir that it can fill up to the other gasket in the first pic, that also still might be an area of concern. But for now, I think I'll just address the gap in the second pic and see if that helps

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[tch55]

Another good reason to not have a sunroof.

 

[joesid]

But for now, I think I'll just address the first place and see if that helps

When you say the first place? Do you mean the inner seal? Or outer?

I lifted the inner seal and was a bit shocked by how easily it lifts up. I know you're quite familiar with how it looks, but am attaching a pic I just took for others. I was planning on putting an RTV sealant or similar in that channel.

 

[imthanick_a]

When you say the first place? Do you mean the inner seal? Or outer?

I lifted the inner seal and was a bit shocked by how easily it lifts up. I know you're quite familiar with how it looks, but am attaching a pic I just took for others. I was planning on putting an RTV sealant or similar in that channel.

I meant the outer seal with the big gap, thanks for pointing that error out. I think I will take some liquid gasket of some sort and squeeze it into the gap

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[joesid]

It rained last night, but was completely dry during my commute. When I got in the car this morning (park outside), I specifically checked and the headliner was dry. Within a few miles water was pouring out from the overhead console and the headliner was soaked again. The thought of taking it to the dealer is almost worse than the leak.

 

[imthanick_a]

It rained last night, but was completely dry during my commute. When I got in the car this morning (park outside), I specifically checked and the headliner was dry. Within a few miles water was pouring out from the overhead console and the headliner was soaked again. The thought of taking it to the dealer is almost worse than the leak.

Wow, sounds rough... To me that sounds more like a windshield issue since it happens when you are driving. The boundary layer from the stream of air flowing over your car should be enough to propel the rain away from your roof/sunroof seals. It seems to me that the water hitting the windshield is getting forced upwards along it and pushing upwards through the windshield seal. Purely speculation of course, but I would check for gaps or unsealed areas near the windshield

 

[joesid]

Had the repair done today per the TSB. "Sealed cracks in roof frame and installed foil tape." There appears to be thin strips of black tape on the front and each side of tray between inner and outer seals, although those could have already been there?

 

[imthanick_a]

TSB 60-16-08 is the number. Took it in for suction pump recall and taking it back Friday for the sunroof fix. "Found cracks in the sunroof frame as described in TSB...."

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[Pyzon]

TSB 60-16-08 is the number. Took it in for suction pump recall and taking it back Friday for the subroof fix. "Found cracks in the sunroof frame as described in TSB...."

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Correct got mine done last week after having drips, kept the car two days and scratched my air blue 80 taking off the headliner.

 

[GumbyGTI]

Looks like I'm heading to the dealer soon. Been super dry around here lately and my Golf sits in the garage when at home. Noticed a stain on my A-pillar this morning after some heavy rain yesterday.

 

[Wass]

I had a leak and it was caused by a clogged drain. Pine needles.

 

[omersali]

Hi Dave, would you be able to tell me what VW performed the work for you and if they covered it under warranty, I live in BC and encountered the exact same problem last night with my car.

Coincidentally I just got the leaky sunroof fixed today along with a service. Here's the description and part number from my invoice. Hope this solves your issue too as it annoyed the hell out of me when it rained.

Dave

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[Wass]

As I stated earlier, my leak was allegedly due to clogged drains. But the leak is back after the drains were cleared. I'm returning to the dealership next week. Below is a link to the TSB (revised 12/16). Now my concern is whether or not the tech strictly follows the TSB, as it is very comprehensive at 15 pages in length.

http://www.stealthtdi.com/Forums/TSB-Sunroof.pdf

 

[Festivus1]

Looking at the PDF linked above, it appears there is a rather glaring error in the engineering design --- a plastic water channel that has steel reinforcing plates. Management of such thermal expansion issues is one of the most basic aspects of engineering design, somebody should be fired over this one because it will haunt sunroof owners from now on. Here is the info from the TSB, with emphasis added by me:

Technical Background
A difference in the expansion rate between the plastic water channel and steel reinforcement plates may cause stress cracks to occur at the edges of the reinforcement plates.

Note:
In most cases there will be stress cracks in multiple locations of the water channel. Care must be taken to ensure all cracks are identified, sealed and that all 8 foil patches are installed correctly. Failure to seal all cracks and install all 8 foil patches will result in a repeat failure.

The repair consists of applying a fast-curing sealant to the crack and using a squeegee to force the material into the crack and then making the surface smooth enough for the foil patch to adhere. There are 8 locations around the corners of the water channel where cracks can be encountered, and if all 8 are being worked on at once the sealant will cure before the repair is complete. The TSB therefore instructs the techs to do the fix one crack at a time. I suspect that few techs would be patient enough to do the repair serially in that fashion, and the odds of missing a crack or flubbing a repair are probably sadly high.

Even though the repair from VW is very well documented and thorough, I am skeptical of the foil seal holding up over time. The areas that are cracked are still going to flex, and over time depending on the material of the foil it can start to crack as well. Pretty much the definition of a band-aid fix, applied ONLY after you have started bleeding profusely. They should instead recall cars with sunroofs to install a more robust water channel that will not suffer cracks.

It will be very interesting to see how the sunroof issues evolve over time due to this cracking problem. I love the sunroof in mine, but if it starts giving me headaches I'll swap it off on a newer SE -- don't love the sunroof enough to take a shower or damage the car's interior every time it rains.